Obama’s Ancestry

Primary Sources

01.Clarence H. Kerns
Born: May 1, 1917 Died: January 2, 2014
Classmate of Stanley DunhamClarence went to school with Stanley Dunham. He served as the class historian for his graduation class at El Dorado High School, the class of 1935. Stanley was in that class but did not graduate that year.

02.Carolyn (née Ewing) Short
Born: August 17, 1918 Died: October 19, 2010
Classmate of Stanley DunhamCarolyn Short went to school with Stanley Dunham. She claimed not to remember him well, but the details she did remember are not found elsewhere in these interviews.

03.Anna Margaret (née McCurry) Wolf
Born: November 21, 1935 Died: March 3, 2013
First cousin to Madelyn (née Payne) Dunham, first cousin twice-removed to Barack ObamaMargaret shares her childhood memories of President Obama's grandparents and playing with Stanley Ann, President Obama's mother.

04.Clifford W. Stone
Born: November 9, 1918 Died: January 21, 2010
Schoolmate of Stanley DunhamAs a contemporary of Stanley Dunham, Clifford's memories are relevant to the time period covered by this oral history project. In this interview, he talks about the influence of oil, and the business climate in the community.

05.Forrest J. Robinson
Born: September 7, 1922 Died: March 1, 2012
Pastor to Madelyn (née Payne) Dunham’s parents, Rolla and Leona PayneForrest was the pastor of President Obama's great-grandparents, Rolla and Leona Payne, late in their lives. He shares his experiences of living in south central Kansas, and his World War II memories.

06.A. Margaret (née Haines) Doornbos
Born: December 19, 1918 Died:
Classmate of Stanley DunhamMargaret, a 1936 graduate of El Dorado High School, shares memories about high school and the dust storms of the “dirty thirties.”

07.Virginia (née Dashner) Ewalt
Born: June 8, 1924 Died:
Classmate of Madelyn Payne DunhamVirginia, Augusta High School class of 1940, recalls events from their high school years and how the war and gas rationing in the 1940's impacted everyday life in Augusta...taking the train to Wichita, the

09.Bill D. Dennett
Born: September 2, 1921 Died:
Schoolmate to Madelyn (née Payne) DunhamBill shares stories about a one-room schoolhouse in Gordon, attending Augusta High School in the late 1930's, his time in the service during World War II, and working on the railroad.

10-1.Nina June (née Swan) Parry
Born: June 23, 1923 Died: October 30, 2012
Schoolmate to Madelyn PayneLifelong friends, Nina June and Nelva recount growing up in Augusta, life during World War II, and their friendship with President Obama's grandmother, Madelyn (Payne) Dunham.

10-2.Nelva (née Seaburn) Wentz
Born: February 24, 1923 Died:
Schoolmate to Madelyn PayneLifelong friends, Nina June and Nelva recount growing up in Augusta, life during World War II, and their friendship with President Obama's grandmother, Madelyn (Payne) Dunham.

11.Lois Olsen Cox, née Olsen
Born: March 16, 1924 Died:
Schoolmate to Madelyn PayneLois recalls growing up on a farm outside Augusta, KS and events from her years at Augusta High School. She shares her surprise at finding a note written by Madelyn (née Payne) Dunham in her autograph book that she sent to the White House, and the personal letter of thanks she received from President Obama.

12.Raymond James Teegarden
Born: October 9, 1922 Died: February 20, 2014
Schoolmate to Madelyn PayneRaymond James Teegarden walked to school with Madelyn (née Payne) Dunham, who also sometimes informally tutored him. He was on the Augusta High School football team, and in this oral history, he tells a compelling story about the team’s spontaneous protest against a cafe that refused to serve their fellow teammate, who happened to be the only African American on the team.

13.Margaret (née Lewis) Shirk
Born: August 18, 1917 Died:
Wife of David Shirk (1915-2009), Stanley Dunham’s classmateMargaret (née Lewis) Shirk tells the story of her husband, David Lee Shirk (1915-2009) who lived with his family in a boxcar during the Depression. The El Dorado Rotary Club loaned him $60 to attend the University of Kansas. He saved the receipt for repayment of the interest-free loan all his life, and his wife established a scholarship fund in his memory. The couple spent a day with David’s high school classmate, Stanley Dunham, in Hawaii. Margaret remembers Stanley bragging on his grandson, who he predicted would go far in life.

14.Christina (née Henry) Snyder
Born: June 1, 1923 Died:
Schoolmate of Madelyn PayneChristine (née Henry) Snyder was a year behind Madelyn in school, and being from the country south of Augusta, did not attend school in Augusta until high school, so she does not recall having personally known Madelyn, though she remembers knowing who she was when they were in high school.

15.Esther (née Gonzales) Mayes
Born: March 8, 1924 Died:
Schoolmate of Madelyn (nee Payne) DunhamEsther (née Gonzales) Mayes was two years behind Madelyn Payne at Augusta High School, and remembers her, but knew Arlene and Charles, her younger siblings, better. Her parents emigrated from Mexico in 1914, and her family was one of the minority families living in Augusta when she grew up. She shares some memories from that perspective, and memories about two of her brothers who saw action and died during World War II, one of whom received the Silver Star.

16.Berry Harris
Born: November 27, 1929 Died:
MusicianBerry Harris has played the blues for over 70 years, in just about every club in Wichita. Berry recollects the many experiences his guitar has brought him. Among music fans he met were three white women from Augusta, who frequented his club and his neighborhood in the 1950s.

Videos, Books, Resources

President Obama: From Kansas to the Capital 4-part series by Susan Peters, KAKE.com

Oral History Project Book (PDF)

Project Support

This project is supported by the Kansas Humanities Council, a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to promoting humanities programs across Kansas. More information is available at www.kansashumanities.org.